The structural relationship between organizational justice and organizational citizenship behavior in university faculty in China: the mediating effect of organizational commitment

Abstract

The present study focuses on the relationship between university faculty members’ organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), affective organizational commitment, and organizational justice. OCB can be simply defined as extra-role behavior not prescribed in formal organizational rules or job descriptions that promotes organizational effectiveness. This study examined two dimensions of OCB at a university: OCB toward the organization and OCB toward individuals. Data were collected through a questionnaire returned by 257 university faculty members from one major university in Shandong Province, China. The results show a positive association in all three types of organizational justice: distributive, procedural, and interactional justice. Affective organizational commitment is the most influential predictor for university faculty members’ OCB. Since human resources (HR) conditions at Chinese universities are relatively unknown, these findings and implications can give valuable insights for educational policy makers, university administrators, and HR-related practitioners in China.